January 11, 2012
Top Reasons to Use WordPress as Your CMS
Ten years ago, if you had asked us what a content management software was we would have told you to stop dreaming and go back to college, hippy. Okay, so maybe we wouldn’t have, and maybe some form of CMS existed even back when, but regardless of the track of time, WordPress has undeniably launched itself to the top of the heap as the king of all content management solutions. The product makes it unbelievably easy to manage, update, and promote your website, even without any direct knowledge of either HTML, CSS, or web design. But why exactly is the bloody thing so popular? And at the heart of the matter, why should you want to use it with either your personal website, or even your business Web address?
Believe it or not, WordPress is actually an extremely powerful device that can drastically simplify the way you create and manage a website. In fact, we often wonder how we ever got along without it. If you’re new to the realm of being a web master, or are a seasoned veteran wondering what all the fuss is about, you’ve come to the right place. Below, you’ll find our top and select reasons why you should be using WordPress to manage your content and your entire website. So, barring any further ado, may we kick into things with:
1. WordPress Won’t Cost You A Dime: We’re completely serious. As a free and open source piece of software, WordPress is completely free of charge, and will not harm your budget in the slightest. We cannot stress this enough: If you want to give WordPress a test-drive, there’s no monetary reason not to. And as an open source piece of equipment, you can even download the source code yourself to modify and mangle the script lines, producing a custom and whacked-out variation of the CMS that meets your specific, kinky needs. That is, if you’re into that kind of thing.
2. They’re Good Lads, Automattic: On a similar note, the original producers and current maintainers of WordPress, Automattic and their leader Matt Mullenweg, are just incredible people. Besides being capable of writing incredible code, and maintaining it through a bevy of impressive updates, the lads at Automattic genuinely care about the state of the Internet, and work like dogs to keep it secure, safe, and free. We only wish we could say the same for GoDaddy. . . .
3. Plug-Ins Are Your Babies: If we loaded up your FireFox browser, we’d be willing to bet our next paycheck you’ve loaded the monstrosity up with about five-hundred and seven unique plug-ins. Why would you do such a thing? Because plug-ins are a non-code based way to add incredible functionality to a free tool you’re already using! In much the same way, WordPress plug-ins allow you to do just about anything you feel like, and all without touching a line of code. Plug-ins can be installed or removed on a whim, and depending on the code, they can do some really incredible things. From eCommerce to a simple, personal blog, if you’d like to see some additional functionality in WordPress, there’s a plug-in for it on the Web—we guarantee it.
4. Themes Are Like Clipart But Better: One of the biggest boons for WordPress is its easily customized appearance. WordPress themes are high-dollar items, and many graphic designers (including yours truly) hock their custom-pressed WordPress themes on such sites as ThemeForest. The reason we subject ourselves to this is WordPress’ total customization potential. With the CMS installed, it is unbelievably easy to instantly change the entire look and feel of your website. Are you unhappy with the tone your graphics are striking now? Then yank that theme out of their and insert one you just found! It works like a charm, and depending on your rearranging proclivities, you could easily cycle through five new themes in a week. In addition, many sites (like the one previously mentioned) sell genuinely high-quality WordPress themes at a fraction of the price it would cost to have your website redesigned traditionally. In essence, WordPress becomes that couch in the living room that you love so dearly: When the fabric gets worn-out and faded, it’s easier than pie to swap out the upholstery for something more favorable to the times.
5. SEO, Esh-Mee-Oh! Another benefit to using WordPress is the ease of SEO optimization. Using a combination of various plug-ins and built-in modifiers (like URL strings and meta-tags) you can SEO optimize your WordPress blog in about ten minutes. Considering most professionals would charge between three and five hundred dollars to do the same in a week, having the capability to do it yourself and in a fraction of the time is a huge deal. Not only that, but sites like Google understand the code behind WordPress, and can more accurately scan it for your content. In other words, using WordPress gets you noticed and with little effort on your part.
6. Support Like Rabbits—It’s Everywhere! We know this is one of the few reasons people use Windows (which isn’t much of a recommendation) but support for your WordPress problems is always available, and always updated. There’s a wide community of people using the software, and as such, you aren’t likely to be the only person experiencing a bug. Nine times out of ten, a quick Google search will not only return ten other users with the same problem, but also a solution that fixes you up in a jiffy. There’s no dedicated phone line to call with your WordPress woes, but what you do have at your disposal is the world’s most widely used CMS, and all of its tech-oriented users’ conversations. Best of all, because WordPress is a single, centralized piece of software, you can bet that if enough people have experienced a problem, the next update from Automattic will correct and improve the issue.
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